Apparatus for stretching and shaping rims



June 19, 1928. v 1,674,575

H. J. STEAD APPARATUS FOR STRETCHING AND SHAPING RIMS Filed Dec. 1924 I 2 Sheets-Sheet l June 19, 1928. v 1,674,575

H. J. STEAD APPARATUS FOR STRETCHING AND SHAPING RIMS Filed Dec. 1924 2 Sheets--$hqet llll: h"?

Patented June 19, 1928 -I-IAROLD J. STEAD, QF GENEVA, NEW YORK,

GENEVA,,NEW Y RK A CORPORATION NEW YORK- I ArrAnA'rUs ronsrrnnronlne Ann sHArIn nnyrs.

Application filed December This inventionrelates to a certain new apparatus for stretching and shaping rims for receiving lenses, altho adaptedvfor shaping and stretching ringsfor any purpose when they are formed of suitable material,

such as celluloid, Xylonite, tortoise shell,

rubber, etc, The main object of the invention is the production of an apparatus by meansof which celluloid or other' rims for lenses formed of suitable material, as above described, may be rapidly and e fiiclently shaped and stretched to proper size and form, accompanied by preliminary heating of the rim, rendering it readily susceptible to shaping and stretchingfandall with a minimum of ease and labor. I d Other objects and advantages relate to the details of the structure, all as will more fully appear from the following description, taken in connection with the accompanylng drawings, in which:- Y

Figure 1 is an elevation of an apparatus of this invention. i

Figure 2is a vertical sectional View of the same. V i a Figure 3 is a section on line 33,-Fig'ure 1. Figure 4.- is a section on' line 4'4,' F igure 1.

V Figure 5 is a view'of vaportioncf"theexpansible ringand the flexible fingers sup porting the same, looking'at the. interior of thering." I

Figure'G is a view of a slightly modified form of expansible ring. i

' Figure 7 is a perspective view of the ring of Fig e v th th n e a is ri d y secured to the ring. i

Figure 8 shows a slightly modified form of the sectional expansiblefring."

The apparatuses showncomprises a base -1- having a front leg or standard 2* and a rear leg or standard 3, the former being preferably inclined forwardly and having its foot portion disposed some distance in frontof, the table or head 4- constituting a portion offlthe base, and preferjably of circular form, and disposed. above the rear standardj- 3-. The base also includes a hollow vertically disposed cylindrical part 5 coaxial with the table -4- and opening upwardly through the table. the lowerend of the cylinder being disposed some distance above the bottom of the legs and 3. Theitable orhead 4 is formed with a circular'recess or depression Serial concentric with theopeningothrough the cyl inder -'5, and the flanges or feet ,6e-, of a plurality of similarly formed'and shaped resilient fingers 7 arranged in this recess, and of a thickness substantially equal tothe depth of the recess, and are confined therein by means of a ring 8 that extends across the feet 6 of the-fingers, and is secured in any suitable manner, as by screws 9 to the table The spring fingers 7-',;are preferably as shown, slightly bowed outwardly at theircentral'portions and preferablyincline inwardly toward their upper portions so that the circle'deter mined by the upper portion of' the spring fingers is of somewhat less diameter than thecircle determined by the spring fingers attheir bases.

Each spring finger at its upper end carries, as perhaps best shown in Figure 5', a seg- ASSIGIEIOR TosTnAnrAsr FG. CO. I 1\TC., or I mental portion 10o'f a' sectional ring -11-, which ring is adapted to receive the celluloid lens rim, and for this purpose the outer edge of'the sectional ring in the completed form is substantially 'V-shaped, or

oppositely beveled for receiving the'inner gr oved s urface of the lens-rim as usually formed, Q here illustrated, and in order to main tain at allftimes' the continuity" of'the sectional rim,fe ac h of the segmental portions -10 constitute a symmetrical one-half of its portion of the rim, one being placed upon the othei' vertically so as to constitute complete vertical rim section. .As illustrated, the segmental sections are of trapezoidal form, having their two horizontal sur: faces substantially parallel," their interior surface disposed at substantially right angles to the two horizontal surfaces and the 'outer'surface inclined at an angle to the horizontal surface, the cooperating outer surfaces of the segmental sections which unite. vto form a complete ring portion, being in clined in opposite directions so as to produce a beveled edge 12 described.

Preferably,as illustrated, alternate spring fingers 7 support the lower segmental ring sections and the other alternatespring fingers 'Z. support the upper segmental sections 10, and in that relation the upper and lower segmental sections break joints, the central portion of an upper sec- 'tion being directly over a joint between two lower sections, and the central portion of a lower section being directly under the joint between two upper sections 10. The sec tional ring so formed is normally small enough to receive any desired lens rim. 7

For the purpose of spreading thesegmental sections 10 so as to enlarge the sectional ring 11 formed as described, there is a conical or tapered member 1larranged within the resilient fingers 7- and of circular form and horizontal crosssection as here illustrated, and gradually increasing in diameter toward its lower end so that when pushed upwardly through the spring fingers 7 it will spread the se mental sections ll()-- and increase the d1.- ameter of the sectional ring l1, thereby spreading and shaping the lens-rim mounted on the segmental ring. The tapered member -.limay have a substantially cylindrical upper portion -15- that normally PIOJGCllS above the sectional ring for the purpose of increasing the ease of operation of the structure, and for constituting with the tapered member 1la housing tor an electrical heating element -16 of ordinary and wellknown construction. The tapered member -M has an annular base 1.7 adapted to normally rest upon. the table l the base being integral with or connected at its inner end to a depending tube or tubular part l7- extending through the cyl nder -5-, and having an opening -18 1n its periphery for the reception of the end -19- of a lever 20 pivoted at -2l on the base --l- The insulated conductors --22 and -23- constituting a portion of the electric circuit tor the heating element 'l6 may pass through cylindrical blocks 2 land 25- arranged in the upper and lower portions respectively of the tube -l 7-. The cylinder 5 may, as perhaps best shown in Figure 2, be formed with a vertical recess 26-- in line with the end -19 of the lever -20 and into Which the end 19-- may move for effecting the desired elevation of the tube -17-, and thereby the tapered member l4E- to spread the sectional ring -11 to an extent desired.

A dial. or graduated scale member 27 placed upon the ring 11-, the heating element turned on to properly heat the lens rim and then the tapered member -'14- may be elevated to stretch the rim a desired extent, as indicated by the dial. In Figure 8 there is'illustrated a modified form of sectional ring in that each section has its outer edge tor-med with a substantially'V-shaped groove so that when the sections are assembled vcrtically, they form a central beveled portion -50- for receiving the lens-rim and opposite shoulders -51- and 52- for supporting the rim on the central beveled edge.

in Figs. 6 and 7, I have illustrated a perhaps preferred embodiment of the invention in that in the Form there illustrz-ited, the ring --a8-- "forms at all times a continuous uniform support for the interior oi the lensrim, and at the same time has opposite flanges -29 and -30 "for engaging the opposite edges of the lens-rim to properly and uniformly support the lens-rim upon the i nterli'iediate V-shaped or beveled portion .-31.. In this structin'e, the eXpansible ring is preferably formed of a single strip oi very thin spring steel rolled or otherwise shaped into substantially Vii-form in vertical section, and with the ends of the ring overlapped a sufficient distance so that any expansionof the ring that can be etterted by the enclosed tapered member -14 will not separate the over-lapping portions so as to leave a space between them.

In this construction, in orderto permit expansion of the vertically lN-shaped horizontally disposed ring, but one end of the ring is rigidly connected to a resilient finger 7-, the remaining portions of the ring being free to slide with respect to the upper ends 01 the enclosed fingers, and as here illustrated, preferably the upper ends of all of the fingers are formed with outwardly extending flanges 32 that fit within the beveled portion -3l of the ring, and support the same, but are unconnected to-the ring so that the ring may slide over them; as it expands under the sectionot the tapered member -14..

Preferably as illustrated in all of the figures, the tapered member -14. is formed with vertical grooves 33 in which the upper ends of the flexible fingers 7 are positioned so that the fingers are at all times guided in their expanding movement and are maintained in properly spaced relation. In the construction of Figures 5 and 6, the single resilient finger shown in Figure6 is su'ilicient to constitute a support for the ring, and all or a portion of the remaining resilient supporting fingermay be omitted, if desired, altho it is preferable to retain a plurality of fingers so that the ring does not contact directly with the member 14-, which would. tend to move the ring'axially. It will be obvious that altho the expansible rings 11 and -28 here shown are of circular form, they may be ofoval, elliptical or any desired form for use in expanding or shaping lens-rims of desired form,

with the understanding that the tapered member -14i should be of an oval, ellipof the same, as various changes and modifications may be made Within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim: p

1. In an apparatus of the class described, a base including a table-at the upper portion of the base, a flexible finger mounted on the table, an expansible lens-rim expanding ring in connection with the flexible finger, a tapered member mounted on the base and movable axially through the ring, a lever pivoted on the base and engaged with a portion of the tapered member for eflecting such axial movement. i

2. In an apparatus of the class described, a base including a table at, the upper portion of the base, a flexible finger mounted on the table, an expansiblei lens-rim expanding ring in connection with the flexible finger, a tapered member mounted on the base and movable axially through the ring, a lever pivoted on the base-and engaged with a portion of the tapered member for effecting such axial movement, and a heating element disposed Within the tapered member 1 for heating the expansible ring.

3. An apparatus for stretching lens rims com-prising a ring formed of over-lapping sections adaptedito recelve a lens (rim, and

means for sliding the sections one upon another to increase the size of the ring Without removing them from overlapplng relation.

4. 'An' apparatus for stretching lens rims comprising a ring formed of over-lapping sections adapted to receive a lens rim, a flexlble l ngerfor each rlng sectron and secured to its respective ring section, and

means for flexing said fingers toexpand the ring by sliding movementof the sections one .uponianother without breaking the .coni a tinuity of the rim-expanding edge.

I 5; An apparatus for stretching lens rims comprising a ring formed of over-lapping sections adapted to receive alens-rim, a

flexible finger for each ring section and se cured to itsrespective ring section, means forv flexmg sa d fingers to expand the ring by sllding movement of the sections one upon another without breaking the continuity of thermrexpanding edge, and a heating element within-the expanding means.

' In witness whereof I have hereunto set myhand this 4th day of December, 1924;.

HAROLD J. STEAD. 

